JULY 23RD AGRONOMY UPDATE

The one-stop-shop to hearing everything you need to know this week about what is happening in your fields.

This week’s featured agronomists are:
Courtney Wolf – Belle Plaine
Todd Anderson – Goodhue
Storm Sammon – Owatonna

 Zach Thompson – Lewiston
Luke Daninger – Ellsworth
Scroll down to hear from your local agronomist.

West
Belle Plaine – LeCenter – LeSueur

Courtney Wolf

Corn fungicide is wrapping up in the area, and as we look at the crop there is still potential for a decent yield. This is due to the cooler temps we were experiencing during pollination. In areas that are not as drought stressed the corn is at the R2 stage or the blister stage (picture 1).

This means that the ear has pollinated, which you can tell by the silks. If the silks are still attached to the kernel that kernel has not pollinated (picture 2), but if the silks are detached it means that the kernel has pollinated (picture 3). Under stress, kernels in the R2 stage can still abort so we are still in need of some moisture to ensure proper grain fill.

The soybean fields are at the R3 stage, so fungicide is fully under way. To know if your plant is at R3 you are looking for a pod on the top 4 nodes that is a ¼ inch long (picture 4). It is important to be checking for aphids and spider mites before you spray. If you do find either of these, you can put an insecticide in with the fungicide to control the insects. Contact you local Ag Partners agronomist to help you scout your crops.


East
Pine Island – Cannon Falls -Goodhue -Lake City

Todd Anderson Agronomist Goodhue

Todd Anderson

The crops are looking good, especially considering what we have had for moisture thus far and there is plenty to see when out scouting now this time of year.

Palmer Amaranth
When you are out looking at your crops, take a close look at any weed escapes.  The MN Dept. of Ag has positively identified 2 fields in Goodhue County with Palmer Amaranth.  They don’t say exactly where it was found, but we should all be on the lookout for it. Notice in the picture below that the petiole (stem that attaches the leaf to the main stem) is longer than the leaf itself if you fold it over.  I have included the link below so you can read the MDA’s article if you want.

https://www.agweek.com/business/agriculture/7109668-Minnesota-Department-of-Agriculture-confirms-Palmer-Amaranth-in-Goodhue-County#:~:text=The%20invasive%20weed%20Palmer%20amaranth,Agriculture%20which%20positively%20identified%20it.&text=An%20herbicide%20application%20stunted%20but,any%20chance%20of%20seed%20production.

Corn Rootworm Beetles
We are finding mainly western, but also some northern corn rootworm beetles especially in extended corn on corn fields.  Both looking for silk clipping for this corn crop, but also for planning ahead for next years crop, so it can either be rotated or make an agronomy plan to help protect ’22 corn crop.

Soybean Aphids
We are finding some soybean aphids now when we are out staging the soybeans for your Fungicide application.  4-7bu is the average soybean response to a fungicide application and the early soybean varieties are now R3 which is prime time.  And we all know the soybean aphids can really take a toll on the yield.

Spider Mites
We are finding areas with spider mite damage also. Worse on the sandy dry ground in Dakota County, but we are also finding them in Goodhue County.

Leafhoppers
We are also finding leafhoppers out in the alfalfa, worse on the new seeding, but can find them at threshold in the established alfalfa as well.

As always, contact your agronomist to help scout or answer questions.


Central
Owatonna – Morristown – Wanamingo – Kenyon

Storm Sammon

Join storm for an update from the field!


South
Lewiston

Zach Thompson

Here in Lewiston the crops are looking very well. Most guys wrapped up 2nd crop hay at the beginning of July and some guys are starting to cut for 3rd crop. Most of the farmers from around the area had a fantastic 2nd crop with good tonnage and quality.

We did Max-In Boron trials with a grower by Rushford with his second crop hay. Max-In Boron is a foliar applied micronutrient that we were hoping for an increase in quality and protein levels. We did scissor cuts before cutting of the second crop and sent in feed samples. We found an increase of Relative Feed Quality by 36 points and increase of protein by over 1%! We will be doing more of these trials with 3rd crop as well.


WWAS
Ellsworth

Luke Daninger

Corn fungicide is wrapping up as pollination progresses throughout the region.  Corn is anywhere from just starting to pollinate to half done from what I have seen.  We could use a drink of water and some cooler weather to help pollination out.  We will be able to assess pollination better in a week when the majority is wrapped up.

This ear is partially pollinated.  Notice silks that are still attached to kernels towards the base of the ear.  These kernels have not pollinated yet and may end up being misses.

Soybeans are R2-R3 throughout the area.  Right now is prime time to utilize fungicide on the beans with past yields showing a 3-7 bu/ac yield response.

North of the interstate is getting very dry as most rains have been missing the region. This is starting to impact harvest considerations, especially with forages. Make sure that you are proactive in making plans with your nutritionist and agronomist.